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Payne cleared after shooting
Melissa Payne will not face charges in the June 30 shooting death of Bart DiGuglielmo after Broward prosecutors found Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law made her “immune from prosecution.”
“Melissa Payne had no duty to retreat and was within her rights to use lethal force”
In a memo addressed to State Attorney Harold F. Pryor, Homicide Trial Unit Deputy Chief Stephen J. Zaccor wrote that by Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, Payne had no duty to retreat and was within her rights to use lethal force to defend herself against what she perceived as an imminent threat from DiGuglielmo.
Zaccor described the incident as a dispute over a parking space in a Walmart parking lot, saying “the entire incident was captured by various video recording devices.”
The confrontation began shortly after noon when both Payne and DiGuglielmo attempted to park in the same parking spot at the local Walmart, and prosecutors said DiGuglielmo threatened Payne while repeatedly approaching as she backed away.
NBC 6 South Florida reported that Payne shot and killed DiGuglielmo during the June 30 encounter outside the store at 7900 W. McNab Road, and that DiGuglielmo was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
Family disappointed, prosecutors cite video
Prosecutors said the key evidence was surveillance video and cellphone footage showing DiGuglielmo “aggressively approach” Payne even as she had a gun in her hand, and they concluded they could not prove by clear and convincing evidence that her fear was not reasonable.
In the closeout memo, Zaccor wrote, “The video does not demonstrate that [Payne] was in the right,” and he added that it showed the state could not overcome her claim of reasonable fear of great bodily harm by clear and convincing evidence.
NBC 6 South Florida quoted Melissa Rodriguez, the attorney for DiGuglielmo’s daughter, Amanda, saying, “This is not a situation in which deadly force was reasonable.”
Rodriguez argued that “damage to property does not constitute a reasonable ground for deadly force,” while the state attorney’s office said Florida is a “Stand Your Ground” state and that Payne did not have to retreat if her fear was reasonable.
CBS News reported that the Broward State Attorney’s Office released approximately 18 minutes of surveillance video and that Payne told investigators, “Sir, please do not approach my vehicle, do not come near us.”
No trial; legal standard ends case
The Broward State Attorney’s Office said it could not prove Payne was not in fear for her life or of great bodily harm when she shot DiGuglielmo, and it ruled she was immune from criminal liability in the June 30 shooting.
“The State cannot prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that Melissa Payne’s fear of great bodily harm was not reasonable”
WFLA reported that the “Stand Your Ground Immunity Memo” explained that in these cases “it is not the defendants responsibility to prove whether her belief was reasonable,” but rather “it is the prosecutions job to prove that she was not reasonable.”
The memo also stated, “The State cannot prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that Melissa Payne’s fear of great bodily harm was not reasonable,” and it said Florida is a “Stand Your Ground” state where a person has no duty to retreat if they are not doing anything unlawful and reasonably believe force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.
DiGuglielmo’s family told CBS News Miami, “My family does not agree with this decision, [our] heart is broken,” while the state attorney’s office said the video did not establish Payne “was in the right.”
Diario Las Américas said the ruling ends the criminal case without a trial after prosecutors reviewed recordings captured from various angles and statements from witnesses to the incident at the Walmart on 7900 West McNab Road.